Educational Science

Edible Oil Dispersant Tackles Spill Cleanup Problem

A new oil dispersant made primarily of edible ingredients could provide a more environmentally friendly way to clean up slicks and spills like the Deepwater Horizon disaster, scientists say. The new dispersant, developed by scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), also floats, an important consideration when thinking about...

Environmental Group Ranks South's Most Endangered Places

Fracking, mountaintop removal and offshore oil drilling are just a few of the top concerns facing the southern United States in 2012. To call attention to these projects and the places they threaten, the Southern Environmental Law Center, the largest environmental advocacy group dedicated to protecting the Southeast, released its...

NEW YORK — The arrival of a new variety of plants, particularly grasses, may have altered the environment in ways that could have helped push our ancestors to acquire traits that would come to define modern humans. Researchers have long pondered what prompted the emergence of upright posture, tool use,...

Has the 'Era of Easy Oil' Ended?

Despite major oil finds off Brazil's coast, new fields in North Dakota and ongoing increases in the conversion of tar sands to oil in Canada, fresh supplies of petroleum are only just enough to offset the production decline from older fields. At best, the world is now living off an...

Fungi that Make Fuel Discovered

This Research in Action article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Mycodiesel is a novel name applied to the volatile organic products made by fungi that have fuel potential. The latest discovery is that of an endophytic Hypoxylon/Nodulosporium species, or one that lives within a...

BP Oil Spill Changed Some Minds on Environmental Issues

The BP Deepwater Horizon disaster prompted some residents of affected parts of Louisiana and Florida to rethink their views on other environmental issues, surveys indicate. About 25 percent of respondents said the spill had caused them to reconsider issues such as global warming or protecting wildlife. Among those most economically...

BP Oil Spill May Have Contributed to Dolphin Deaths, Study Finds

The 2010 BP oil spill contributed to an unusually high death rate for dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, a new study suggests. Between January and April 2011, 186 dead bottlenose dolphins washed ashore between Louisiana and western Florida. Most alarmingly, nearly half of these casualties were calves, which is...

Explosive Methane Gas Found in Some N.Y. Wells

About 9 percent of New York state water wells contain enough dissolved methane to require monitoring and other safety measures, according to a new study. The research tested more than 200 wells used for drinking water across the state for the explosive gas, which is naturally occurring but can be...

Infographic: What's America's Emergency Oil Plan?

Political and economic unrest in the Arab world have sent gas prices skyrocketing in the United States in recent weeks, and some lawmakers are ready to tap into the country's emergency stash, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. [Full story] Just how much oil is in the reserve? How Does Oil Form?Why...

SOS! Major Oil Disasters at Sea

Mega Borg (Image credit: NOAA) The Mega Borg released 5.1 million gallons of oil as the result of a lightering accident and subsequent fire. The incident occurred 60 nautical miles south-southeast of Galveston, Texas, on June 8, 1990, while the Italian tank vessel Fraqmura was lightering (transferring oil to) the...